Transducer Cone Angle

[invasahata]

When fishing Lake O out of Braddocks my West to East troll forces me to up my boat speed from 3mph to 4mph to get my lure speed up to 2mph. This forces my program out of my cone and off my Helix screen. Worth a transducer adjustment or do I just roll with it and focus on mark’s and not worry about marking my program?

 

 

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[J.D.]

I also fish out of Braddocks and almost never troll East or West because of the currents. Try taking a diagonal course, it will be easier to maintain preferred down speed.

[invasahata]

I also fish out of Braddocks and almost never troll East or West because of the currents. Try taking a diagonal course, it will be easier to maintain preferred down speed.

Thanks JD! Seems like an obvious solution yet it escaped me.


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[Yankee Troller]

1 hour ago, invasahata said:

 

When fishing Lake O out of Braddocks my West to East troll forces me to up my boat speed from 3mph to 4mph to get my lure speed up to 2mph. This forces my program out of my cone and off my Helix screen. Worth a transducer adjustment or do I just roll with it and focus on mark’s and not worry about marking my program?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

 

 

 

What transducer are you running? A HB CHIRP ducer?

[invasahata]

 
 
What transducer are you running? A HB CHIRP ducer?

Yes. I have the Helix 8.


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[Yankee Troller]

If you want to upgrade the transducer to one that will show you more I'd recommend an Airmar P66 if you have an aluminum boat, or a B60 if you have a fiberglass boat. Fish on 50khz and run around on 200khz.

[Yankee Troller]

CHIRP transducers have much narrower cones than the traditional sonar of the past.

[chinook35]

When fishing Lake O out of Braddocks my West to East troll forces me to up my boat speed from 3mph to 4mph to get my lure speed up to 2mph. This forces my program out of my cone and off my Helix screen. Worth a transducer adjustment or do I just roll with it and focus on mark’s and not worry about marking my program?
 
 
Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Watching your weights and baits on your sonar can be misleading. The fish on your screen are at the depths on your screen ( usually ) if they are directly under your boat. Your weights and baits are NOT at the depth on your screen. They are at that DISTANCE from your transducer. Fish the marks


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[brucehookedup]

Smart troll will tell the truth to all deployed devices.

[FishingFool34]

I had a similar issue a few years back when I would fish depths over 90ft down. I switched to heavier rigger weights (15lb sharks from 10lb torpedos) and this brought everything back into my sonar cone.   

[glh456]

Can't you change the khz setting on the Helix ?

[Chuck Smth]

Truth is,  I don't get too hung up on being millimeter-perfect on depth. The dang fish are 3 or 4 feet long, so a couple of fish-lengths either way won't matter.   Given my choice, a little high seems to be better than a little low.  Just be in the ballpark and you'll be fine. It's not a situation where you'll catch fish at 52 feet but not 50 or 54.  

 

We catch as many fish on lead and dipsy's as we do riggers and they're up and down all over depending on turns, speed, current, etc. 

 

Heck, I've seen fish come up 30' to hit a bait. 

 

When you think thermocline you need to remember fish are cold-blooded. They can be at any temp with enough oxygen to sustain them.  They just don't like rapid changes that require them to adjust to their surroundings. Kings (in my humble experience) like to stay in the most stable temps which are generally around 49°F  in Lake Ontario where the oxygen is plentiful, but will certainly leave it briefly to chase a meal. 

 

In other words, I've found down temp and down speed is more important than the actual depth. 

 

As far as distance from the transducer, meh. Even for a 50° cone the largest error can only be 10%  ( d/cos(50°/2).  That's not enough to worry about, especially if your transducer transom depth isn't considered. For a 20° cone it's really insignificant. 

 

All IMHO and YMMV, and that's totally cool,

 

Chuck

Edited July 1, 2021 by Chuck Smth